Friday Focus
January 15, 2016
The UOI scoring has went really well this week. I only have a few more to get done. Many of you have also done the pre-implementation on the growth plan. I don’t think NEE sends you a note that I approved them so go back in and check so you can add your mid year narrative (what we did in November.) I apologize if putting all of this on the website has felt like one more thing on the plate, but it has been a huge improvement on this end. It is cleaner to read and score for me. I know the cut and paste has been a pain, but next year we will just start with the boxes and create there. Within the next few weeks, we need to complete the PD plans and do the “end of the year” narratives and remaining boxes. No need to worry about it yet, but I wanted you to be aware we would finish these up soon.
I want to apologize again for the make up time on Feb. 9th. I promise to make it as painless as possible. I definitely think we need to find a way to organize a meal we can all sit down and eat together, instead of in shifts like the fall. Hopefully, we can do a fun meal and still keep it healthy for our competition.
I hope the new semester has started off well for your classes and the students are settling back in. Time is flying by. It is crazy to think some teachers have already given unit tests, and I know some are wanting to pilot the new retake policy. You are more than welcome to give it a shot now. We will all be doing it next year, but make sure the students understand that it is just in your room for this semester. I need time to talk to the parents and the students about what a school wide policy will look like. The 2 biggest things we learned about the retakes this fall are to communicate it early to the parents and stick to the 2 week mandatory retake policy. We are working on a form and testing it out to see if it will help us stay on top of the issue and make sure the retakes are done in a more timely manner. I think this will keep us heading towards our mission of guaranteeing all students will reach their potential. Being the principal here for my third year now, I am really proud of how we are pushing ourselves to get better. I went toe-to-toe with a parent and grandparent (who was a former Hallsville teacher) about how the things we are doing are making us better and ensuring students get better. I also had a parent back in October who told me the retake policy change was because I believed in common core. Both of those arguments have only fired me up more to defend you as educators of their children and let everyone know that you are amazing at what you do. Keep up the good work and continue to find ways to improve our building. I have your back.
Enjoy your 3 day break!